When do demons and unclean spirits tell the truth?
When they are trying to use the truth to bring harm and destruction to human beings, thereby changing truth into an instrument of lying. One such instance is found in Job 4 in the words of Eliphaz as he talks with Job.
Now—to be sure—my first encounter with this verse was not a close, careful, and slow reading of the passage. It was filtered through the book, The Unseen Realm, as Dr. Heiser was guiding me (the reader) through his point. What I want to further express is that Dr. Mike's point remains true, but the evidence that I misread and partially misunderstood the passage is now clear. How so?
In my later reciting of this passage, I laid the words of the verse Job 4:18 at the feet of Eliphaz as the speaker. Other people who I interacted with also did not make the close and careful read, and simply took me at my word that the revelation was coming from Eliphaz. In reality—it was and is not; Eliphaz is not the source. To get this, we must read the verse in a wider context and do so closely, carefully, and slowly. Allow me to demonstrate. Here is Job 4:18 out of context and in isolation:
18 Even in his servants he puts no trust,
and his angels he charges with error;
Taken alone with the commentary that this is Eliphaz speaking, one can possibly forgive me and others for thinking that these words are those of Eliphaz himself. And while they are the words of Eliphaz, they are not his words, but his reciting of the words told to him in a night terror vision by an unidentified spirit that scared him half to death. To see this, let's read the opening of the passage starting back in verse 12:
12 “Now a word was brought to me stealthily;
my ear received the whisper of it.
13 Amid thoughts from visions of the night,
when deep sleep falls on men,
14 dread came upon me, and trembling,
which made all my bones shake.
15 A spirit glided past my face;
the hair of my flesh stood up.
16 It stood still,
but I could not discern its appearance.
A form was before my eyes;
there was silence, then I heard a voice: ..."
For a 21st century reader, this might understandably read like a modern horror film. Many of us in western nations where we have gone to see "scary movies" can attest to scenes in those movies just like what Eliphaz describes.
The key to point to see as we read the passage closely, carefully, and slowly is found in the bolded text: "... then I heard a voice: ..." We don't now for sure, but we can perhaps safely assume that the voice is of the spirit that glides past the face of Eliphaz. He's having what people refer to as a "night terror". A demonic spirit (dead giant) is pressing into the earthly realm by way of a dream as Eliphaz sleeps. And it is here that this unclean demon spirit speaks. This, then, couches verse 18 (above).
It is the demon spirit who is relaying to Eliphaz that Yahweh doesn't trust His servants (divine spirits, sons of God, Watchers, et al). Now, we can read this verse again with clear view of who is speaking and perhaps the purpose of the communication.
18 Even in his servants he puts no trust,
and his angels he charges with error;
This is not just a statement of truth, but a statement of charges made by the son of a disobedient Watcher defending his filthy father held in prison by God. This is not said with idea of communicating truth, but of communicating contempt for God and contempt for human beings (imagers of God). Therefore, we might well conclude that truth is being weaponized in the mind and mouth of a demon to cause mayhem, harm, and even destruction. In this case, to and through Eliphaz to Job and then ultimately as an affront to God, Himself.
While demons are terrified by a direct confrontation of God, at a distance they mock, deride, and think, speak, and act contemptuously towards God (and anyone or anything connected to Him). We can see this in the encounters that demons have with Jesus, over and over. When directly confronted by the Lord, they suddenly turn polite and subservient, but when they are dealing with entities other than God (like people) they are deriding, destructive, and mocking.
There is nothing really left to glean from this passage at the moment. The primary story seems quite clear.
First—it takes labor and effort to do a close, careful, and slow read of scripture. Our flesh wants to hurry and in its haste, we walk right by core truths that help us to know God better and improve our understanding and ability to live in believing loyalty to Christ. Therefore, our best position to take when reading scripture is to commit ourselves to the labor and effort required to maximize the leading of the Spirit in us through scripture towards knowing Jesus!
Second—we learn something of how demons think, speak, and act. The story of Job 4:12-21 helps to reveal not only truths about God versus His enemies, but how those enemies operate. Remember: Paul tells us that he and others with him are not ignorant of how these unclean spirits, arrayed in orders of principalities, powers, authorities, and rulers of darkness. As we examine Job 4, we can get a sense of why Paul and others are not ignorant. By following in like manner with Paul, we too can know our enemy and not be ignorant.
Finally—by the by, we can glean kernels of truth from the middle of the contemptuous lies being uttered by demon spirits. In this case, we learn that the demon spirits (as children of the rebellious Watchers who are in prison) are not and never were trusted by God.
God doesn't trust His servants. He doesn't trust the angels. What this ultimately leads to is how all of history is a loyalty test. God is testing both angelic beings and human beings to see who is and who is not loyal, and where the breaking points of loyalty in them are. How far can He trust? And with human beings, if they are set free by Him (Cross) and empowered by Him (Spirit), will we use our freedom in Him and His power in us by our free will to remain loyal, even in the face of demon assault, human assault, and even our own flesh, lusts, and passions?
It is personally empowering to see what is possible to learn of God from scripture once we have the right story and foundation in it!